CHARACTERIZATION OF DELAMINATED ZONES IN ABLATIVE COMPOSITES BY ACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY
Dr. C. R. L. Murthy, Thomas C. Koshy* Dept. of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore *Composites Pressurised Systems Division, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
Keywords: NDT, Acoustic Microscopy, Composite, Defects, Delaminated zones
ABSTRACT
Rocket nozzles are generally made of high temperature resistant composite materials having excellent ablative characteristics. Defects, if present in such components, could be highly disastrous and may cause catastrophic failure of the mission itself. Conventional NDT techniques are found to have certain limitation in locating and sizing the extent of defects. This paper highlights the effectiveness of detection and characterization of delaminated zones in a typical silica- phenolic nozzle component by means of acoustic microscopy salient features of the technique are presented in this paper.
Publication Source: Trends in NDE Science & Technology; Proceedings of the 14th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, New Delhi, 8-13 December 1996.full paper not received Publisher:Ashgate Publishing Company
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